Travelling Books.

Books just wanna be free. And book crossing does just that. Over the years, I have found two of these wandering books. One was an Agatha Christie novel when I was on exchange in Norway. The other I found just the other day at my college campus. The book is Star Bright A Christmas Story by Andrew M. Creeley.

Book crossing is an organization in which one takes a book, and just set it somewhere for anyone else to pick up. Inside each book is a code, and you go online put in the code, and you can find where the book as travelled. Then you read the book, and set it out in the world again.

You can track the books journey through this link and you can even see what other books people are "catching." It's such a great concept, and I feel really lucky to have caught two books through this program.

To register a book is totally free. All you have to do is register for a code, download the label, and set the book out. This is entirely free. There are different ways to send out the book, either by giving it to someone directly, leaving it somewhere totally random like at a cafe, or at official "book crossing zones".

The "book crossing zone" is just a specific location where a group of people continually drop books for one another. This kind of dropping usually has some organizing behind it. Regardless of how you find the book, finding one is always kinda special. Or at least to me it feels special.

When I finish this book, I will of course be dropping it somewhere for someone else to find. And I think this book may have slipped onto the bottom of this months TBR. I still haven't decided if I am going to review this book, but when I do decide I will let you know.

Ender's Game: Review.

Ender's Game is the first book in a trilogy by Orson Scott Card. The book is about 9 year old Ender and his journey through Battle School. But, like with so many governments, there are conspiracies, and things kept in the shadows.

As well, recently they made a movie based on the book too with Asa Butterfield, and Harrison Ford. I do want to do a book to movie comparison, so keep an eye out for that.

In this world, there is a race of creatures who have attacked the Earth. In their second invasion, many of them were killed. This event was humanities fight back against these creatures. But time is running out. The Battle School recruits the brightest, and cleverest children to be a part of their program. And all of these kids are competing for a chance to be in Command School and lead the human race to victory. Ender is one of these kids, but he doesn't know that he is humanities only hope to end the war.

I fell in love with most of the characters, however there were a few I didn't care for. Namely: Ender's older brother Peter. And I don't think you were supposed to care for them. Ender himself is so fascinating to read about. He is very clever, but at the same time you do see the child inside of him. At least in the beginning of the book. In Battle School, all of the children are forced to grow up in a matter of months. Seeing Ender's transformation from pinprick, to star student is just amazing to see.

The way the teachers of the school turned Ender into this leader however, is scary. And reading it, you feel so much sympathy for Ender. You really understand how alone he feels in this school. And it's no fault of his, but planned by the General Graff.

Even Ender's siblings on Earth take incredible transformations, and their plans are just as interesting as what is going on up in space with Ender. Valentine and Peter were both contenders to be in Battle School, but were rejected for different reasons. And both plots converge together really well. However out of the two of them I am personally more scared of Valentine, but Peter definitely has his moments.

I do kinda wish we got to see how the other kids from the battle school changed a little bit more as well. I feel like towards the end of the book, we lose a bit of their personalities. Especially those Ender was allowed to get close with. I did love exploring Ender's relationship with them as the book went on.

The world is a little bit hard to understand at times because of the technical jargon. But when you get a handle on it, the world is full and complex. However it does make it a little too easy for the characters to do controversial things, but it speaks for the desperation of their society as well. So there are good and bad points to it.

I personally felt like a lot of the battle sequences were a little hard to follow. And it did switch perspective and point of view at random times with very little indication of why. However the more you get into the book, the clearer the other point of view is and the better you learn how to read it.

The plot is so intriguing, and there is so much going on. The twists though are a little bit obvious are still really well done, just because how they were written, and how the plot played out. I really wish we got a little more back story on the buggers, but perhaps in the other books in the series will explain the buggers a little bit more. As well as how the world changes at the end.

If you really like science fiction books, child prodigies, or just books that make you think, then Ender's Game is perfect for you. I feel like this book can teach young people about compassion and how the adults don't always know everything. As well, I loved reading about the adults treatment of Ender, but that could be just because I'm weird.

So would I read this again? Yes in a heart beat. Would I recommend it? Yes I totally would. Would I finish the trilogy? Of course, I am on the hunt for the next book now.

My Feelings on Audiobooks.

Disclaimer! Disclaimer! The following post is just my opinions. You are totally entitled to your opinion, just as I am entitled to mine.

Through audible.com, you can get you first audiobook for free, so I decided to get one. It was free, I honestly had nothing to lose. This was the very first audiobook I had ever listened to. Now, before I listened to any sort of audiobook I always thought I wouldn't like them. And, I am finding that I was right.

The audio book that I chose was Steven King's memoir called On Writing. The audio book is narrated by Mr. King himself, so I know it isn't the narration isn't at fault. Steven King is amazing to listen speak, and him reading his own book is a beautiful thing. Or so I had thought. I find myself listening to the audio book, zoning out. I feel like I would get so much more out of the book if I read it. I feel like I had missed so much of the story.

However, I can see a lot of benefits of audio books. I do enjoy sitting here listening to the book as I do my homework, or draw. As well, as it's perfect to use as background noise for time on the internet. And for people who have long commutes, I can totally understand why people love audio books. But I still prefer sitting and reading.

Story telling will always be a passion of mine, and I want to experience all forms of it. If you are at all curious about audiobooks, go ahead and try them. It's something different, and there are a lot of pros and cons. I don't know if I will be getting any more audio books, but if I do, I will certainly review them.

Super late September Tbr.

So, here are the books I plan to read through the month of September. Two of them I have already started, but with the beginning of school, I have no idea how much reading time I am going to get. However, with a super long bus route, I could be getting a lot of time.

Now, my rules for my tbr is: if I don't finish them, they go to next month, this way I don't have a huge pile of books to be read, and never getting to them.

I will be reviewing Ender's Game (the bottom one) and I might do a discussion, literary thing on The Catcher in the Rye. But I promise nothing. I don't feel like I need to do a review on The Shining, because it is so iconic, and everything I have to say will just be repeats of what every other person who has read this books says.

I hope you all have a good night, and I'm going to try and get some sleep.